Blinds are popular and efficient window dressings found in many homes around the country. The advantage of blinds is that they allow you to control the exact amount of light coming into any room. The blinds can be closed completely to block out light and provide privacy at night. They can be fully opened to allow in all the sunlight possible. They can also be opened in gradual increments to let in just a small amount of light when you are watching a movie or trying to create a specific atmosphere. The problem that many people have is that blinds are difficult to clean because they are made up of many individual slats. This leads many people to avoid cleaning the blinds even though they get very dirty.
One of the more traditional methods of cleaning blinds involves using a bathtub. You fill the bathtub with warm water. You must then remove the blinds from your windows. The blinds are submerged in the water along with a little bleach or dish soap. You have to sit next to the tub and wipe the blinds down while they are under water. You drain the tub when the job is done. The blinds are left to dry for several hours or overnight. You finish by putting the blinds back up again. The problem with this method is that it is incredibly inconvenient. Your windows will be left bare for a long time. You will not have access to your tub for some time. There is a better way.
A woman on YouTube recently described a classic and effective way to clean the blinds in any home. This method will work for both horizontal and vertical blinds. The process is the same for both. The method will not work for fabric blinds or Roman blinds. You do need to remove fabric or Roman blinds to clean them. That usually involves soaking the fabric in water and then allowing it to air dry for some time. The method described here is really for plastic, wood and aluminum blinds.
The first step is to remove as much debris and dirt from the blinds as possible. You can use a few different things to do this. A microfiber cloth is the best option. You could also use a clean sock placed over your hand. A handheld vacuum with a brush attachment on the end is effective as well. Wipe each of the slats in the blind from one side to the other or the top to the bottom. Wipe down the entire surface including the top and bottom of the slat. Make sure you get most of the visible dirt and debris off the blinds.
You now want to get a bucket and fill it with warm water. Add a couple of tablespoons of dish soap. You could use bleach if you have white blinds. If there is a large amount of sticky dirt on the blind, then you could also toss in a little baking soda to break down the grime. Take a microfiber cloth and dip it into the water. Saturate the whole rag. Wring it out so that it is left just moist instead of dripping wet.
Take the cloth and repeat the process from before. Turn each of the slats flat. Grip the slat on one end with the cloth. Pinch firmly and move the cloth from one end all the way down to the other. Do this for every slat. You might need to go back over some slats more than once if there is a large amount of grime on the surface. You should now allow the blinds to dry completely. This is the most effective and efficient way to clean horizontal or vertical blinds in your home.